I'm looking for a new bank before I head over. It's for my…

I'd recommend keeping several US bank accounts. When you live abroad, redundancy is key. Banking and phones are your lifelines, so have backups for both. NFCU and USAA are fine as backups but not great as your main way to withdraw from ATMs. At first I'd open a Charles Schwab checking account and use its ATM card as your primary. Going one step further, also open a Fidelity cash management account as an ATM backup, or rotate between the two. I wouldn't have any direct deposits go into a Philippine bank account. Having a PH account is fine, but only move money into it as needed. That's how I use BDO, mostly for ATM withdrawals, and I like walking into the bank and getting a lot of small bills at once. For those recommending NFCU or USAA: NFCU charges a $1 fee plus 1%, and USAA charges just the 1%. That's separate from the ATM fees. Only the ATM fees are refunded, not the 1%. So if you withdraw $500, you don't get that $5 back. Not a big deal for many people, but it's there. Their credit cards have no foreign fees, but they aren't my go-to cards. In the end, my NFCU and USAA accounts are all backups. I keep small balances and use them now and then so they don't go dormant.

Avoid USAA and NFCU. They take a 1% fee on withdrawals from Philippine ATMs. These credit unions only refund the 250-peso Philippine ATM fee a limited number of times a month. The three best banks for expats are Fidelity, Schwab, and Betterment. All three refund every 250-peso Philippine ATM fee. Fidelity also does SWIFT transfers for free. Sending dollars from Fidelity to a USD account in the Philippines costs nothing on Fidelity's side. The Philippine bank may charge something. Schwab charges $15 for a SWIFT transfer, which is a very good rate, but free is better. Betterment doesn't support SWIFT transfers. For ATMs, UnionBank and HSBC let you take out up to 40K pesos at once. Chinabank (a Philippine bank, not a Chinese one) allows 20K per transaction. Check Google Maps to see which banks are in your area. I keep both Fidelity and Schwab in case one has a problem. I also have Wise and Remitly. I use Wise maybe once a year and Remitly maybe once every three years. They're backups. Also check which credit cards charge foreign fees (cough, cough, Citibank does) and which ones will courier replacement cards to the Philippines (DHL, FedEx, etc.). Feel free to ask about credit cards. Welcome. Enjoy. Thank you for your service.

Open a PNB (Philippine National Bank) account in the States. Then use it at PNB once you're in the Philippines.

Navy Federal Credit Union is my main bank.

My daughter wires me money from my WF account every month.